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The Mars Volta break up: "Itried my hardest to keep itgoing "

Cedric Bixler-Zavala has announced that The Mars Volta have broken up.

In a series of Tweets this afternoon, the band’s enigmatic frontman has revealed that he is no longer a member of the prog-rock group, and indicated that a fall-out with longtime friend, and collaborator Omar Rodríguez-López is to blame. “For the record I tried my hardest to get a full scale North American tour going for Noctourniquet but Omar did not want to,” he wrote. “I guess a break from mars volta means starting another band and ignoring all the support the fans gave us. I tried my hardest guys.”

Cedric started influential post-hardcore band At The Drive-In in 1993 and invited Omar to join in the mid-’90s, before calling it quits less than a decade later. Formed in 2001 from the ashes of their former group, The Mars Volta became known for their freeform live shows and experimental approach. They released six full-length discs including De-Loused in the Comatorium, Frances The Mute, Amputechture and last year’s Noctourniquet, winning a Grammy in 2009 for “Best Hard Rock Performance”.

All I can do is move forward with my music and just be happy that mars volta ever happened at all. God Damn we had a blast. Thank u again

Following a tour in support of Noctourniquet, Rodriguez-Lopez decided to take some time off to concentrate solely on new project Bosnian Rainbows, which features Mars Volta drummer Deantoni Parks. In an interview at the time, he said he was unsure about a future reformation.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’ve done that for 10 years, 11 years. Now we’re all doing different things, and everything that we’re doing informs how we express ourselves, and so if that happens then it happens and if it doesn’t it doesn’t. It’s not something to be worried about. It shouldn’t occupy a space in the mind. There’s way too many things that are much too important to occupy space in the mind.”

The Mars Volta have toured Australia numerous times. Their last visit was in 2011 for Splendour In The Grass. Here’s how we described their set: “Never much of a band for adhering to any rules of festival sets – play the hits, keep the new stuff to a minimum and don’t get too indulgent – Omar, Cedric and co used their mainstage set to show off tunes from their upcoming sixth album.”

Cedric Bixler-Zavala full Twitter statement:

Thank u 2 all VOLTA fans u deserved more especially after the way u rooted for us on this album. I tried my hardest to keep it going but Bosnian Rainbows was what we all got instead. I can’t sit here and pretend any more. I no longer am a member of Mars Volta. I honestly thank all of you for buying our records and coming to our shows. You guys were a blast to play in front of. We could never had done it with out you. My dream was to get us to the point were Jon Theodore and Ikey Owens came back but sadly it’s over. Thank u a million times over for ever giving a fuck about our band. For the record I tried my hardest to get a full scale North American tour going for Noctourniquet but Omar did not want to. I guess a break from mars volta means starting another band and ignoring all the support the fans gave us. I tried my hardest guys. All I can do is move forward with my music and just be happy that mars volta ever happened at all. God Damn we had a blast. Thank u again. And no I’m not joking about any of this, I owe it 2 u guys to all fans to be serious about this. Thank u to all past members who helped Volta along as well. we blasted through like a comet and left our mark! If u ever see me in person and want to know why I’ll tell u my story. Please just be happy that it happened at all remember all the opposition we were met with for just starting a new band back in 2001.(sic)

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Thank u 2 all VOLTA fans u deserved more especially after the way u rooted for us on this album. I tried my hardest to keep it going but Bosnian Rainbows was what we all got instead. I can't sit here and pretend any more. I no longer am a member of Mars Volta. I honestly thank all of you for buying our records and coming to our shows. You guys were a blast to play in front of. We could never had done it with out you. My dream was to get us to the point were Jon Theodore and Ikey Owens came back but sadly it's over. Thank u a million times over for ever giving a fuck about our band. For the record I tried my hardest to get a full scale North American tour going for Noctourniquet but Omar did not want to. I guess a break from mars volta means starting another band and ignoring all the support the fans gave us. I tried my hardest guys. All I can do is move forward with my music and just be happy that mars volta ever happened at all. God Damn we had a blast. Thank u again.

very glad i got to witness them on 3 different occasions, first time at outside lands fest, i didn't even know any songs and it was one of the best and most memorable live performances i will ever see.

That's the most fuckdest piece I've news I've read since I read that At The Drive-In broke up.
Even though I knew they were well past their best, and I had seen them at their peak, a TMV show was always spectacular and jaw dropping.

Interesting to read Cedric's comments about Jon and Ikey too... confirms theories that Omar was really the a**ehole.

Guessing that probably hurts any chances of a full ATDI reunion... although based on Omar's lacklustre efforts on that tour, I'd be interested to see if they do it without him

Oh they called it quits a few years ago. Jim's solo work is fairly brilliant.

Omar and Juan Alderete had a side project called Vato Negro that released an album called Bumpers, that I think is more interesting than most of the Mars Volta stuff. Check it out if your that way inclined.
http://vatonegro.bandcamp.com/